Otago Polytechnic has ended a difficult year by shedding or reducing the hours of 11 staff.
Reviews of the student services and School of Art divisions had resulted in 6.2 full-time equivalent positions being disestablished and some School of Art staff having their hours reduced, human resources manager Matt Carter said yesterday.
In addition, the student services manager resigned and was not replaced.
It was a "difficult time" for managers and staff, and not a good end to the year, he said.
In August, 7.9 full-time equivalent positions were disestablished after enrolments declined in the applied business and automotive studies departments.
The polytechnic has a large number of part-time students and was expecting equivalent full-time student (efts) numbers to reach 3386 this year, chief executive Phil Ker told a polytechnic council meeting yesterday.
However, efts were 54 down on that figure at the end of September and were expected to drift to about 80 down by the end of the year.
It was inevitable staffing would be reviewed when efts were declining.
The council discussed its 2009 budget with the public excluded yesterday.
The leadership team had spent several days working through the budget and was "hunkering down" for another challenging financial year, Mr Ker said.
Despite the sadness of job losses for some staff, the review of student services had resulted in a structure which showed promise, he said.
A new group had been created called staff and student services, to be headed by Mr Carter.
The size of the polytechnic leadership team had consequently reduced by one to 12, a number Mr Ker said was "appropriate given the cost reductions made elsewhere" in the organisation.
The staff and student support team would collectively be responsible for student retention, disability support, Maori student support, career development, Pacific Island student support and international student support.
It was also hoped support services to staff would be expanded.
"I expect this to be a successful approach.
If it is, I expect it will be used as a model across the [tertiary] sector".
Otago Polytechnic Students Association co-president Meegan Cloughley said it had endorsed the new model and was expecting a greater interaction between support team members and the OPSA.
